I was re-elected today as Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority. This was on the toss of a coin after the vote resulted in a tie.

I’m looking forward to being at the helm as we implement a new way of working and holding the Mayor and Combined Authority Board to account. Following a review of scrutiny on the Combined Authority, carried out at our request by the Centre for Governance & Scrutiny, we’ve agreed to carry out its eleven recommended actions over the coming months. We hope this will make us more effective and scrutiny at the Combined Authority more meaningful.

I’ll be at the meeting of the Combined Authority Board on Wednesday to ask the three questions the Overview & Scrutiny Committee agreed to put:

• whether the new Mayor will now declare a climate emergency;
• how we will be involved in decisions about whatever replaces the CAM metro; and
• whether the Combined Authority will coordinate with its member councils in future when drafting responses to consultations such as the current one on East West Rail.